The Time Flies By...

So this week has had it's ups and downs. Miracles and challenges, but what’s new? We have had a scare with almost every one of our investigators. Emiliano has been having struggles. But we had a lesson and he was so excited about his baptism. We told him it’s his choice and he said it’s what he wants to do, so we´ll keep moving forward with the baptismal date. They said okay and we announced it in church yesterday and have made all the plans. He will be baptized on Friday at 7:00 p.m. Yeah!
This little colt was born right across the street from us

I don’t know if I mentioned last week, we have had challenges with Jaekelin as well. But we got her back to where she was and we are moving forward. She has seen so many trials with her baptism. I’ve never seen so much opposition in an area. So many things in our way, it’s ridiculous and frankly I’m just mad at Satan for making us wait and postpone and wait some more. But he will be conquered. I’m not worried; I know everything will be okay. It’s just a trial. We gotta prove our faith and if we do, according to Ether 12:6, we expect those trials to come. I was waiting. Or so I like to think.

Agustin and Jess have conquered yet again the rumors of the ward and we met with these ward members and cleared up some stuff, shared some scriptures and now they are all on the same page again. No one is fighting. It’s awesome! We watched The Testaments with them and it was great. Without fail, everyone cries at the end of that movie. It has a beautiful ending. I love it.
RS Activity: great spirit, great fun!
Miracle 1 :) We got a little surprise. We had the Relief Society birthday party this week and Hermana Gonzalez brought Jessica and a girl named Silvia with her. Silvia is the daughter of a less active recent convert. Both her parents are members, but they don’t come very often. We have taught them before, but Silvia would always hide from us so we were surprised when she showed up on Friday at the activity. Well, as we’re all eating, talking and having a good ole time, Hermana Gonzalez yells to us that Silvia wants to be baptized! Yeah! Immediately, of course, we go over to her to see what’s up. Well, ten minutes prior we had a testimony meeting about how the Relief Society has helped the women in our ward. So she says she has been thinking for a long time about the church, but has always been unsure. She decided she needed to learn a little more and experiment so she decided to come to the activity. Well, while listening to the testimonies, she said she was sure she wanted to get baptized. She says she feels so good in the church and that she’s searched far and wide in different churches to feel that way. So cool! We told her to come to church on Sunday and we would talk to her afterwards and teach her the first lesson. So we did. We put a baptismal date for the 29th with Jess and Agustin. They are friends now too so it works out. Love it.

Another miracle... we had to leave the activity early because we have a curfew and all but when we were walking out the doors, Jessica came out after us and asked if we could talk for a minute. She told us she was really homesick. We told her we could relate!! She started to cry and we just talked about life in general. She said even down to this little problem that I’m having of missing my mom, the church helps me with that because there are all these women inside who will love me and who help take care of me, if I need it. She said the gospel is incredible and that life is so much better with it. And she hasn’t even been baptized! She has grown through the roof. It’s been so amazing to see it. She didn’t even like to go to church when we found her, now she loves it. But I can testify to what she says... the gospel of course helps in every little part of our lives. It IS our lives, if we´ll let it be. If we truly have a testimony, it becomes much more than just a religion, it is EVERYTHING and I love it that way.

We had our second ward council here. It went well. The members have been really great. We used to eat with the same members every day of the week each week, but I told my comp we need to change that so we can get to know more members. Now we’ve been eating with more members, getting to know them and their lives, so we are able to help them. They gain our trust and it all works out better. Well, because of that, we have become greater friends with people and more people love us and we are working better together. In ward council we were talking about the things we need and everyone was being so considerate. It’s such a great blessing. One hermano just told us straight up, you know what the savior said, "Ask and you shall receive." I’m so grateful for them and the huge amount of work they have been doing. It’s been a great change. I think I will leave this area better than what I found it and that’s our purpose as missionaries. I love the people here, just like every other area.

Remember the kid that we taught, Nauel, the grandson of a member... he’s getting baptized next week! So cool, huh? I told you I would keep you updated. There you have it... It’s so awesome, all over the world, every Saturday thousands of people are coming to the fold of God once again. How cool is that? I challenge you all to look for someone you can bring to the fold.... do it!

It’s been a good week. We had 10 investigators in church and a couple of inactive members who came. I love it. It’s been awesome...

I hope all is well at home and you can feel of the love of our Savior. I pray for that daily and that we can all work as a team to get where we truly desire to be and that we can help others to do the same. Our little part goes a long way, so keep working, keep searching for those who need you and the Lord and we will be rewarded...

I love you all!! Until next week! Love, Ash!